Chucking device for disc drive

Details Chucking device for disc drive Chucking device for disc drive

1998-11-20

2002-08-20

Hudspeth, David (Department: 2652)

Dynamic information storage or retrieval

With particular cabinet structure

With mechanism to place disc on a turntable

Reexamination Certificate

active

06438087

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disc chucking device of an optical disc drive which loads an optical disc using a disc tray, and chucks the loaded optical disc on a disc table using a chucking pulley.
2. Description of Related Art
A sort of optical disc drive which the inventors of the present invention have applied is described with reference to
FIGS. 11
to
18
. In detail, as shown in
FIG. 17
, an optical disc
1
is placed horizontally in a pit
3
formed on the upper surface of a disc tray
2
, thereafter, when a front panel
2
a
of the disc tray
2
is pressed lightly in the direction indicated by an arrow a
1
, a loading switch (not shown in the drawing) is turned on, the disc tray
2
is drawn horizontally from the direction indicated by the arrow a
1
namely the loading direction into the optical disc drive through a tray gate
4
by means of a loading mechanism which will described hereinafter as shown in
FIG. 18
, and as the result, the optical disc
1
is automatically loaded horizontally on a disc table of a spindle motor.
After loading, the optical disc
1
is rotated at high speed by the spindle motor in response to a recording and/or reproducing command signal supplied from a host computer, data in the optical disc
1
is recorded and/or reproduced by an optical pickup. After reproduction of the optical disc
1
, the disc tray
2
is unloaded automatically in the direction of the arrow a
2
namely the unloading direction to the outside of the optical disc drive through the tray gate
4
in response to an unloading command signal supplied from the host computer as shown in FIG.
17
.
Next, as shown in
FIGS. 11
to
16
, the disc tray
2
consists of synthetic resin, and a slotted hole bottom aperture
8
is formed along a tray center P
1
extending from the center of the pit
3
to the rear end
2
b
side. A pair of right and left guide rails
9
is formed combinedly in parallel to the tray center P
1
on the right and left side edges of the disc tray
2
. On one end of the bottom surface of the disc tray
2
, J-shaped parallel rack
10
and guide groove
11
are formed combinedly. The linear portions
10
a
and
11
a
of the rack
10
and the guide groove
11
are formed in parallel to the tray center P
1
, and on the end of the front panel
2
a
side, the circular portions
10
b
and
11
b
are formed.
Next, a box-shaped chassis formed of synthetic resin is provided in the internal of the optical disc drive
5
, and the pair of right and left guide rails
9
of the disc tray
2
is guided by a plurality of tray guides
15
formed combinedly on the inside of the right and left side plates
14
a
of the chassis
14
and slid in the direction of arrows a
1
and a
2
. A lift frame
16
formed of synthetic resin is attached on the bottom
14
b
of the chassis
14
. Insulator fixing members
17
and
18
are formed combinedly at two positions on the right and left sides of the rear end
16
a
side of the lift frame
16
and at the center position of the front end
16
b
of the lift frame
16
, namely total three positions, and three insulators
19
and
20
, which are dampers consisting of elastic material such as rubber, are fixed to these insulator fixing members
17
and
18
.
The right and left insulators
19
fixed to the rear end
16
a
of the lift frame
16
are fixed on the bottom
14
b
of the chassis
14
with a fixing screw
21
inserted through the center of these insulators
19
, one insulator
20
fixed to the front end
16
b
of the lift frame
16
is fixed on the end of the lift driving lever
23
with a fixing screw
22
inserted through the center of the insulator
20
. The lift driving lever
23
is disposed perpendicularly to the tray center P
1
and the base of the lift driving lever
23
is attached on the bottom
14
b
of the chassis
14
with a pair of horizontal right and left support pins
24
so that the lift driving lever
23
is rotatable in the vertical direction namely in the direction of arrows b
1
and b
2
.
In other words, the lift frame
16
is structured so as to be driven vertically in the direction of arrows c
1
and c
2
correspondingly to rotational movement in the vertical direction around the pair of right and left insulators
19
of the rear end
16
a
side by the lift driving lever
23
. A shallow groove
25
is formed on the upper surface of the lift frame
16
.
The loading mechanism
27
is mounted on one side of the front end
16
b
side of the lift frame
16
on the bottom
14
b
of the chassis
14
. The loading mechanism
27
is provided with a loading motor
28
, a pinion
29
which is rotated in forward-reverse direction by the loading motor
28
, a pinion lever
31
which moves a center shaft
29
a
of the pinion
29
swingingly in the direction of arrows d
1
and d
2
in the horizontal plane around a vertical rocking lever shaft
30
, a cam lever
34
which is driven by the pinion lever
31
with interposition of a pair of partial gears
32
and rotated in the direction of the arrows e
1
and e
2
in the horizontal plane around a vertical rocking lever shaft
33
, a camgroove
35
formed circularly around the rocking lever shaft
33
of the cam lever
34
having a level difference in the vertical direction, and a cam driven pin
36
formed combinedly on one side of the end of the lift driving lever
23
and engaged movably in the cam groove
35
. The pinion
29
is engaged in the rack
10
of the disc tray
2
, and the center shaft
29
a
of the pinion
29
is engaged movably in the guide groove
11
.
The loading mechanism
27
allows the pinion
29
to move along the J-shaped rack
10
of the disc tray
2
by guiding the center shaft
29
a
of the pinion
29
along the approximately J-shaped guide groove
11
of the disc tray
2
. In detail, when a disc is loaded on the disc tray
2
, the pinion
29
which is driven in forward-reverse direction by the loading motor
28
drives the linear portion
10
a
of the rack
10
linearly toward the front panel
2
a
side from the rear end
2
b
side of the disc tray
2
and thereby draws the disc tray
2
in the optical disc drive
5
horizontal in the direction of the arrow a. Continuous forward rotation of the pinion
29
by the loading motor
28
allows the pinion
29
to swing in the direction of the arrow d along the circular portion
10
b
of the rack
10
, when, the pinion lever
31
rotates the cam lever
34
in the direction of the arrow e
1
with interposition of the pair of partial gears
32
.
The cam driven pin
36
of the lift driving lever
23
is elevated upward namely in the direction of the arrow b
1
in the cam groove
35
of the cam lever
34
, thereby the lift frame
16
is lifted upward in the direction of the arrow c
1
around the pair of right and left insulators
19
using the lift driving lever
23
with interposition of the insulator
20
from the lower position with downward inclination as shown in
FIG. 15
to the lifted horizontal upper position as shown in FIG.
16
. When the disc tray
2
is unloaded, the reversed loading operation is operated, in detail, the cam lever
34
is rotated in the direction of the arrow e
2
while the pinion
29
which is reversibly rotated by the loading motor
28
is swung in the direction of the arrow d
2
along the circular portion
10
b
of the rack
10
, the cam driven pin
36
is driven downward in the direction of the arrow b
2
namely downward along the cam groove
35
, and the lift driving lever
23
drives the lift frame
1
b
downward in the direction of the arrow c
2
around the pair of right and left insulators
19
with interposition of the insulator
20
from the upper position shown in
FIG. 16
to the lower position shown in FIG.
15
. In continuous reverse rotation of the pinion
29
driven by the loading motor
28
, the pinion
29
drives linearly the linear portion
10
a
of the rack
10
from the front panel
2
a
side to the rear end
2
b
of the disc tray
2
, and the disc tray
2
is pressed out in the direction of the arrow a
2
to th

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Chucking device for disc drive does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Chucking device for disc drive, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Chucking device for disc drive will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2916886